The first issue that sprung to mind was the configuration of the Gem sockets. While the Two Nations Banner had a clear upgrade to five total sockets, they were in a different set-up than my old main-hand. Instead of the Two Nations’ quad-linked set-up with one solo socket, I was used to two individual sockets and one linked pair: Meet the Charge, Defiant Display, and the linked pair of Final Assault and Grade A Party Orders.
My dilemma was obvious. You couldn’t normally directly link active use Skills without a Twincast Gem connected to the two and I wouldn’t want to link any of those three Skills anyway. Final Assault was a last ditch move, Meet the Charge was very situational, and Defiant Display was my go-to aggro Skill. I frowned and rolled the Gems around on the table.
Well, I’d start with the simple things. I picked up the Party Orders Gem and materialized the shiny new Raid Orders Gem in my other hand, giving them a quick side-by-side comparison.
Grade A Party Orders (Modification Gem)
Causes all party members to activate the linked Skill or Spell Gem at no cost and casting time. Increases Elemental Power cost of the base Ability by 25% and decreases all numerical parameters of the Ability by 15%.
Grade S Raid Orders (Modification Gem)
Causes all raid and party members to activate the linked Skill or Spell Gem at no cost and casting time. Increases the Elemental Power cost of the base Ability by 40% and decreases all numerical parameters of the Ability by 10%.
Despite the increased cost, the Raid Orders was a clear upgrade, especially with my aspirations for Crystalfire Keep. The quad-link was a rare opportunity; you rarely had a linkage of three Gems, let alone four. But what did I want to swap around to let an entire raid activate, what more could I link to it to improve it, and what would I have to sacrifice in the process?
My first thought was to tuck Meet the Charge away for now. Yes, it had proven useful twice in as many days, but it was still a rare thing to actually get use out of. If I could find a way to slot it again, I would, but I had to prioritize my other abilities. It blinked into my inventory and I moved on.
Defiant Display had to be in, for certain. It was a strong Skill on its own so I could slot it solo and suffer nothing for it. I snatched up the topaz stone and clicked it into place on the banner’s shaft. A soft glow rippled up its length and the familiar tingle of Skills coming back into my mind made me smile just a little.
Well, whatever I was going to do, I was going to use the Raid Orders on it. It was a smooth, large pearl and popped easily into place. The obvious things to consider would be either some big offensive buff, such as Final Assault, or a huge defensive steroid, like Last Stand or Strength of the Mountains. The meta before 2.0 was all about offensive zergs so I had relegated the Gems I had that were solely defensive buffs to my bag.
Maybe after what we had experienced with the Crystal Ogre, it was time to bring out my old favorites again.
I was about to go inventory diving when the ‘soft’ horn of the Herald pane went off. I flicked my eyes over to it and nudged it to the message tab.
Kayla: Hey! Sorry for being a little late; I was catching up the guild after you left and my timer just reset.
I let out a sigh of relief I hadn’t known was pent up inside me. Of course, it was something innocent and simple. Most likely Burndall had done something similar. With a smile, I unlocked messaging and replied.
Shale: Gotcha! Doing some Gem shuffling but if you wanted to do some questing or something, I should be ready soon.
Kayla: I’m in no rush. So hyped up on the big quest, you know? Mind company? Maybe I can help with the theorycrafting?
I was slow to respond. Not that I didn’t want her to be here. I did and she was part of a big raid guild. All my reading of wikis and doing research into builds didn’t compare to the hands-on experience of a raider. Kayla would be full of insights on this sort of thing. Still, I was hesitant. It felt … weird though I didn’t know why.
Kayla: You okay? If you don’t want to chat, then I can do some cooking …
Shale: Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry about that. Sure, I’m down on Chiselmark. Smith’s Hall. Can’t miss me.
If I had any chance of doing what I needed to do, I needed her help. Whatever I was feeling, I couldn’t let that screw up Chrissy’s chances. I forced myself to take a deep breath and get myself together, pulling out some of my old Defensive Skill Gems while I waited for her to show. Not that it took her long; she must have logged out in Granholm like I did. The perfectly measured clatter of Sea Horse hooves on stone echoed through the lonely hall in time with the hammer beats as I looked over towards the door.
Kayla was as elegant and beautiful as before and that was when I realized the source of that weird feeling. No, it wasn’t something, you know, sexual, not really. It was more that I couldn’t figure out why someone who was obviously smart, talented, and yes, good-looking would want to spend more than the absolute necessary time around an overall loser like me. She had a whole guild of certified butt-kickers to call upon. She didn’t need me one bit.
She waved as she walked up before quirking her head to one side. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re looking at me kind of weird…” Her watery eyes screwed up. “Wait, did they accidentally patch in the no-gear bug again? Am I in underclothes?” Oh yes, who could forget that little slip of the code? Half of the server looked half-naked to each other for three days. The Sorceress began rapidly inspecting her gear, swirling her skirts and making sure every bit of Arena gear was in place.
I shook my head and tried to not look like more of an idiot than I already did. “Oh, no, nothing like that. I’m, well, I’m just worried about some things up there.” I pointed up, the common reference to the real world that got past the Filter. That wasn’t a lie, not really, not with my concerns about the mounting bills. “I’d say more but …”
Kayla looked back up at me and smiled sympathetically. “The Filter. I know.” She stepped up beside me and put a cool hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry to hear that, though. It seems to be going around.” She frowned a bit but shook it off in a moment, peering over my shoulder. “So … Gem shuffling, right? Can you slide me an invite so I can see what we’re working on?”
I resolved that even if I couldn’t figure out the why, I was going to try to stop second-guessing Kayla’s presence and simply enjoy the company. “Right, got a great new banner from the quest, and it’s got a totally different socket layout.” Gesturing at her, I extended a party invite that she immediately accepted and gave her examination rights.
Turning back to my little pile of Gems, I set the Two Nations Banner next to them so she could get a good look at it all. She leaned casually on my shoulder and that alone made me smile. What could I say? It felt good to have someone who was interested in what I was doing, really interested beyond the impact it might have on our lives. I mean, Chrissy and Roxanne cared, sure, but they didn’t know the game. They didn’t care about the game, only the end results of my work in it.
“I was thinking about something really good to put in the quad slot,” I said. “Already put in that Raid Orders Gem and I could always put in a Final Assault, but I’m not sure.”
Nix were cold by nature, the cool, placid elemental force of water flowing in their veins, and more of the soothing cold seeped through my armor as Kayla leaned over a bit more. “That would be the usual choice, taking advantage of the big Support Affinities Craggars and Warlords have. Most of the other good offensive buffs are all classified as Offensive.” She hmmmed and it almost sounded like a purr. “You’ve got some interesting Defensive Skills sitting there. What were you thinking?”
God, I hoped I wouldn’t sound like an idiot as I replied, “Well, I know that big offense is how things have been going in the endgame but with Crystalfire being all scaling content, I don’t know if I want to go down that path.” I pointed at the three empty sockets. “And there’s still two connecting sockets. There’s not much Final Assault could benefit from there sav
e maybe a Light Elemental Gem.”
I thought I could hear the smile in her voice. “And you can’t get those easily, if at all, outside of an actual raid or an Arena reward.”
“Yeah, exactly.” I chuckled. “Maybe I can ask Burndall to buy me one?”
She laughed along with me, something that sounded like music to me. “I don’t think he even has that much money.” The laughs quieted and her blue-skinned finger pointed at the Gems I had laid out. “Seriously, though, I think you might have the right idea. Even if we had a full group, that Ogre was no laughing matter and that’s just the start of the quest line. Got a Shield Phalanx or an Undying Guardian in there?”
I deflated a bit. Any hopes of showing off my awesome loot and impressing her was gone. Those were more raid-level Gems, way out of my league. “Uh, well, no. I do have a Grade A Last Stand, a Grade S Strength of the Mountains, and a Grade B Regenerative Pulse.”
Instead of chiding my lack of gear, Kayla slid from behind me to my side, sitting on the edge of the bench and leaning over the Gems. “We can work with that! Let’s take it by the numbers.”
“That’s how we always do things, right?”
“Exactly!”
I chuckled and picked up the Gems one-by-one so we could get a closer look.
Grade A Last Stand Skill Gem (Defensive)
250 Elemental Power to activate
10 minute cooldown, Neutral Element
Focusing your will, you make a final stand. You heal 10% of your maximum Health Points immediately. For the next 10 seconds, you gain immunity to all damage and negative status effects.
“Last Stand is as basic and straightforward of a panic button as you can get,” I said as I picked up the next one. “But it’s not necessarily a bad choice.”
Kayla nodded slowly. “Agreed. What’s next?”
I held up the inky obsidian of the Strength of the Mountain.
Grade S Strength of the Mountain (Defensive)
Craggar only
500 Elemental Power to activate
5 minute cooldown, Earth Element
You call upon the power of the Earth. For 30 seconds, your Physical and Earth resistances increase by 30%, Block Rate increases by 20%, and you gain an earthen shield that absorbs 20% of your maximum Health Points of damage before dissipating.
“Wow, you fully upgraded your racial Gem!” Kayla sounded a little impressed by that, much to my delight. It had been a lot of work to take it from the Grade C Gem given out as a newbie item to what it was, an entire obscure series of quests that I thought was worth the time. “Fancy but expensive on EP, especially after the Call modifier.”
I tried not to sound Burndall’s probable age as I smiled. “Thanks. It really worked with being a tank but I haven’t had much use for it for a while.” I hrmed. “I’m worried that the Block boost and shield won’t mean much to most the raid, though.”
“But it’d be a big boost for off-tanks and the melee folks,” she counterpointed. “They might not have high Blocks, but the melee DPS tend to need decent Health pools in case of cleaves and area-of-effect mechanics.”
“Point taken.” I put down the obsidian and picked up the slightly clouded emerald. “Regen Pulse time!”
“Another rare one, even if people don’t use it much outside of soloing,” Kayla nodded.
Grade B Regenerative Pulse (Defensive)
100 Elemental Power to activate
16 second cooldown, Earth Element
The regenerative energy of the forest slowly heals your wounds. Every 2 seconds for the next 8 seconds, you heal 10% of your maximum Health Points.
“Okay, maybe I’m not seeing what you’re thinking with that one.” The Sorceress folded her arms across her stomach. “If you’re going to slot a big defensive bang, that’s certainly not it.”
I leaned back in the stone chair and nodded. “Sure, but it’s cheap and has a fifty percent uptime. Imagine how much raid-wide healing that could be, especially with two more Mod Gems I could add on.”
Kayla’s face scrunched up, her blue hair slowly swirling as if she were floating in water. “Huh, I think I see where you’re going with that. Still, it could lead to a lot of overhealing.” She smiled. “I mean, I just do Support on the side and in Arena matches but I know the theories on it. Still, I’d keep that idea on the backburner. It might be helpful to slot in certain encounters now that Calls are much better.”
It made a lot of sense and I was thankful for her insight. “Got it. So … nine seconds of god mode or a general, powerful defensive buff that lasts longer?”
“I don’t think you can go wrong but Strength gives buffs that most non-Craggar players never see plus that duration might let you approach defensive situations differently, using the duration for, well, like a defensive alpha strike if you catch my drift.”
I nodded slowly. “Yes, I do.” I grinned. “Plus I can always switch it out if it doesn’t work.”
She smiled. “And that’s the best part of the game.” She looked off distantly, no doubt distracted by guild chat or a Herald message. A frown played over her face and didn’t dissipate after a moment.
Now it was my turn to ask, “You okay?”, as I slipped the obsidian stone into the socket next to the Raid Call.
“I … well … I don’t know.” Kayla stood up and stretched absently. She didn’t have my level of immersion but she was well connected if she felt the need to make such unnecessary motions in-game. “You know I was asking around the Sisters to fill out our group, right?”
I tensed as I put the other Gems away. Here was the other shoe dropping, where she tells me that she’s going to help her guild up to Crystalfire. “Yeah?”
“Well, Crysta was sure that she and Vanni were going to help us and …” She shook her head. “And I need to tell you who those are for this to make a bit of sense.” Smiling, she turned back to me. “Crysta is one of our top Support folks, well, technically she’s a Ranger which makes her a hybrid but that’s neither here nor there. Vanni is one of our main tanks, our only Warlord, and they’re Promised.”
“Wait, you thought we needed another tank?” I couldn’t hide the hurt and that surge of irrational inadequacy I felt, no matter Kayla’s intentions. The rest of what she was saying passed right through my brain. “I thought I was doing pretty well, all things considered.”
Kayla shook her head and waved her hands defensively. “Hey now, chill out, Shale! You’re a great tank! I wanted to ask Crysta and Vanni along to both help with the quests and to show you the ropes of endgame play.” She smiled softly, and I realized I was being a bit of a butt almost immediately. “Like I said, you have everything a good tank needs to be a great tank, like a raid-level main tank for a big guild! This would have been a great chance to boost you up there!”
I shook my head and blew out a sigh. Talk about putting my armored feet in my mouth. “Oh, man, I’m sorry.”
She laughed. “It’s okay! I should have been clearer.” The smile started to fade as she continued. “Anyway, there’s a bit of trouble going on. Vanni hasn’t logged in for over a day and Crysta’s been super worried. We’ve been trying to ask her about it but the Filter keeps screwing things up.”
I found myself sharing Kayla’s frown of worry. “You said they were Promised, right?”
The Ring of Promise was the only workaround for the Filter, a special magical item you could quest for if you were serious about forming a real-life connection. Best friends, surrogate family, lovers, or whoever you wanted to form a strong connection to, it was the only way to go. Past that, I didn’t know much about it. Like I would ever find someone like that to share my real life with. What I did know was that meant Crysta and Vanni were both very close and had some knowledge of each other’s life outside the dive.
“Yes, which means that if Crysta is worried and upset, it could mean some very bad news about Vanni.” Kayla closed her eyes and sighed sadly. “And there’s no way we can find out for sure. We only get Crysta talkin
g about kumquats and sharknadoes.”
I stood up and gingerly put a hand out towards Kayla. I expected her to recoil from my touch, but instead, she relaxed as I put my hand on her shoulder. “That’s horrible. I know what it’s like for things to be rough up there. I hope everything works out for your guildies.”
Kayla looked up at me and smiled softly. After a moment, she patted my hand with her own. “Thanks, Shale.” With her free hand, she conjured up her staff. “Now, I don’t know about you but I find that blowing some monsters into loot piles is a great way to feel better when things are rough.”
I’d figure out how to fill those last two Gem sockets later. For normal creature bashing, Strength of the Mountains and the Raid Orders would be fine. Eagerly snatching up my new banner and excited by her suggestion, I nodded. “Now that is a fantastic idea!”
As users continue to enter NSAF deep dive scenarios, their brains adapt and learn from the on-going connections. Their ability to issue direct commands increases in speed and multi-tasking, their avatars start to instinctively move in accordance to mental and emotional states, and skills and knowledge they are exposed to in the dive are learned at an increasingly high rate. To put it poetically, users start to become one with the avatars they use the most. The therapeutic and academic uses are immense.
Dr. Marie Fontaine, NSAF research notes
I think the best part about NSAF games is how they make you feel! I mean, you can be anything you want and feel every moment of it! It’s totally awesome!
Unknown fan interviewed at DiveFest 2219
10
It felt good to actually play the game for once. I hadn’t played EO for the fun of it in so long, I almost forgot what it felt like. Kayla and I didn’t do anything big, anything world-shaking. We simply took a ride out into the Dominion Mountains, up to the more dangerous peaks, and blew the crap out of some wandering MOBs. Pyrlin tribes gave way to twirling, dancing groups of Storm Elementals and Flurry Beasts. No pressure, no jobs to do, no quests or contracts, just pure gaming for the love of the game.
Ring of Promise: A LitRPG novel (Elements of Wrath Online Book 1) Page 10
